40th Anniversary of Kent State Today

On May 4, 1970, Ohio National Guard troops at Kent State University opened fire on an Anti-Vietnam War rally and killed four and wounded eleven others. This ignited protests and violence at college campuses all across the United States.

I was a freshman at Northern Illinois University at the time. I didn't like the war, which I thought was never going to end. It started when I was in 7th grade and went on all through high school and showed no signs of letting up. Actually it was getting worse. A few days earlier, President Nixon had announced that the US was attacking Cambodia to cut off supply routes.

This set off a new wave of protest and marches.

The war was particularly looming for males my age because of the draft. There was a lottery where every year boys turning 18 had their birthdays placed in a drum and pulled to give a number. The lower your number, the more likely you were to be drafted.

I was too young for the first lottery and was #31. I was hoping that since this was very low, I'd get a high number for when it counted. Not with my luck. I was #22. That meant go to college or Vietnam. Since I wanted to be a teacher, college was definitely already in my plans. But a lot of boys were there to avoid the draft.

To Be Continued. --RoadDog



My wife said, "Whatcha doing today?"
I said, "Nothing."
She said, "You did that yesterday."
I said, "I wasn't finished."